8 key passes in a single game! The Prince of Manchester City dreams back to the peak and he can feed cakes more than Ding Ding

The first match of the 2025/26 Champions League season is a seemingly tricky on paper, and it is full of fans' favorite "hate": Napoli has arranged Manchester United's "abandoned players" Hoylen, McTominay and Savage. But the bigger highlight is that Kevin De Bruyne, the legend who has represented Manchester City 422 times and won 16 trophys - returns to Etihad as an opponent. Unfortunately, the fans holding the banner of "King Kevin" were only happy for 26 minutes: Naples captain Di Lorenzo knocked down Haaland and was directly red, De Bruyne was replaced, and the "Going Home Fairy Tale" ended instantly.

Conte was forced to change the formation, and Hoylen and McTominay instantly became the wheels under the bus, all relying on Milinkovic Savage to get high and low gears. The Serbians made many excitement in the first half, but Manchester City's 16-1 shots mean everything - ironically, Napoli's only kick was an excellent opportunity, and Manchester City only thundered and rained. In the 56th minute, the script was finally written: Haaland turned around and scored in the moon, and the assisted Foden "drawing a rainbow" on his back was even more immortal. It is worth mentioning that Haaland made a red card with Di Lorenzo, and that pass also came from Forden. There is no doubt that he is the best player in the game. He put De Bruyne's "instructions" directly on himself: 82 touches and 8 key passes, smiling like a child playing wild ball in the park. No goal? It doesn't matter, he and B cut the Naples bus into parts.

This is also a good thing for England: Tuchel went to St. James' Park last night to see the Rashford double-sounding sound and missed Foden's resurgence performance. How much does Manchester City rely on him? Foden played a world-class performance in the 23/24 season, Manchester City won the Premier League; Foden was invisible in the 24/25 season → Guardiola Manchester City had the worst history. His own condition can influence the performance of Manchester City's entire team.

The number advantage of people certainly helped, but Conte's 5-4-0 was never a math problem, but an art problem - Foden was that brush. This good start is equivalent to an announcement: Manchester City will no longer be in the group stage 22, tied by Feyenoord three goals, and was taken turns to be held by Portugal Sports, Juventus and Paris as they did last year. Rodri's Golden Ball returns, Foden's smiling face restarts, dual cores are in place, and the system is smooth again.

No De Bruyne's last pass? Foden brought the dining table directly to Haaland. All signals point to the same conclusion: This Manchester City is more balanced and confident, ready to take full revenge on all fronts. As long as Foden continues to play football with a smile like this, they can clock in early and get off work during the group stage.